The termIslamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcingsharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for asovereign state taking a compromise position between a purely Islamiccaliphate and asecular,nationalistrepublic.
The term is currently used in the official title of threestates – the Islamic Republics ofIran,Pakistan, andMauritania. Pakistan first adopted the title under the constitution of 1956. Mauritania adopted it on 28 November 1958. Iran adopted it after the 1979Iranian Revolution that overthrew thePahlavi dynasty. Despite having similar names, the countries differ greatly in their governments and laws.
Iran and Mauritania are religioustheocratic states.[1] Pakistan adopted the name in 1956 before Islam was yet to be declared the state religion;[2] this happened at the adoption ofthe 1973 constitution.
The creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran was a dramatic, historical event, following the overthrow of thePahlavi dynasty in 1979 by theIslamic revolution led by AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini. "Islamic" in the country's title was not a symbol of cultural identity, but indicated specific governmental system based on rule by Islamic jurists enforcing Islamic law. The system was based onThe Jurist's Guardianship:Islamic Government, a work of the revolution's leader AyatollahRuhollah Khomeini, written before Khomeini came to power,[3] and known by Khomeini's followers but not by the general public.[4][5][6] It argued that rather than elections and legislators, Islam required traditional Islamic law (sharia), and proper enforcement of sharia required a leading Islamic jurist (faqih) (such as Khomeini himself, who served as the firstfaqih "guardian" orSupreme Leader of Iran) to provide political "guardianship" (wilayat orvelayat) over the people and nation (wilayat al-faqih). All the Muslim world should be united in such a state. With it, the entire non-Muslim world will evidentially "capitulate" to its courage and vigor;[7] without it, Islam would fall victim to heresy, "obsolescence and decay".[8]
The new government held areferendum for public approval to change Iran from a monarchy to an Islamic republic in March 1979, two months after theIslamic Revolution took power. While some political groups had suggested various names for the ideology of the Iranian revolution such as the Republic (without specifying Islam) or theDemocratic Republic; Khomeini called for Iranians to vote for the name Islamic Republic, "not a word more and not a word less".[9][10] When an Iranian journalist asked Khomeini what exactly Islamic Republic meant, Khomeini stated that the term republic has the same sense as other uses and Islamic republic has considered both Islamic ideology and the choice of people.[11]
The day after the vote was complete, it was announced that 98.2% of the Iranian voters had voted to approve the new name.[12][9]
Unlike Khomeini's original vision, the Islamic Republic is a "republic" with elections (Khomeini had originally described his "Islamic government" as "not ... based on the approval of laws in accordance with the opinion of the majority"); it has many of the trappings of a modern state—a president, cabinet andlegislature (Khomeini mentioned none of these except for the legislature, which his government would not have because "no one has the right to legislate ... except ... the Divine Legislator").[13] Some, however, have argued that the legislature (and president, etc.) has been kept in a subordinate position in keeping with Khomeini's idea of government being a guardianship by jurists.[14]
theOne God (as stated in the phrase "There is no other god except God"), His exclusive sovereignty and right to legislate, and the necessity of submission to His commands;
divine revelation and its fundamental role in setting forth the laws;
continuousleadership and perpetual guidance, and its fundamental role in ensuring the uninterrupted process of the revolution of Islam;
the exalted dignity and value of man, and his freedom coupled with responsibility before God; in which equity, justice, political, economic, social and cultural independence, and national solidarity are secured by recourse to:
TheIslamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in theMaghreb region of westernNorth Africa.[16][17][18] Mauritania was declared an independent state as the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, on November 28, 1960.[19] Its legal system is "a mix of French civil law and Sharia Law", and its Penal Code punishes crimes against religion and “good morals” with "harsh sentences". "Heresy orapostasy (including in print) are "punishable by death".[20]
Pakistan was created as a homeland for theMuslims ofBritish India, when British India was given independence, making Islam its raison d'être. It was the first country to adopt the adjective Islamic to modify its republican status under its otherwise secular constitution in 1956. Despite this definition, the country did not have a state religion until 1973, when a new constitution, more democratic and less secular, was adopted. Pakistan only uses the Islamic name on its passports, visas and coins. Although Islamic Republic is specifically mentioned in the constitution of 1973, all government documents are prepared under the name of theGovernment of Pakistan. TheConstitution of Pakistan, Part IX, Article 227 states: "All existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the Injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah, in this Part referred to as the Injunctions of Islam, and no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to such Injunctions".
After the1989 Sudanese coup d'etat an Islamic regime was established in Sudan headed by theNational Islamic Front, the NIF was interested in spreading Islam from above rather than preaching to the masses. It strove to eliminate the power of the traditionalSufi brotherhood based parties (theDemocratic Unionist Party and theUmma Party) and replace them with itself.[23] Under the NIF government, education was overhauled to focus on the glory ofArab andIslamic culture, and memorizing theQuran.Religious police in the capital insured that women were veiled, especially in government offices and universities.[24][23]
Human rights abuses by the NIF regime includedwar crimes,ethnic cleansing, a revival ofslavery,torture of opponents, and an unprecedented number of refugees fleeing into Uganda,Kenya,Eritrea,Egypt,Europe andNorth America.[25] Repression of the "secular middle class" was "savage" and unprecedented for Sudan where "political customs" were relatively relaxed.[26] "Purges and executions were carried out in the upper ranks" of the army, and civil and military officials were subjected to Islamist "reeducation". Opponents were forced into exile to prevent them from organizing an alternative to the regime.[23] after tensions grew betweenOmar al-Bashir andHassan al-Turabi, Turabi was kicked out of government and in 1999 the NIF was abolished.
In December 2015, the then-presidentYahya Jammeh declaredThe Gambia to be an Islamic republic. Jammeh said that the move was designed to distance the West African state from its colonial past, that no dress code would be imposed and that citizens of other faiths would be allowed to practice freely.[28] However, he later ordered all female government employees to wear headscarves[29] before rescinding the decision shortly after. The announcement of an Islamic republic has been criticized as unconstitutional by at least one opposition group.[30] After the removal of Jammeh in 2017, his successorAdama Barrow said the Gambia would no longer be an Islamic republic.[31]
^Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Africa and the Middle East. Facts On File, Inc. 2009. p. 448.ISBN978-1438126760.The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, situated in western North Africa [...].
^Seddon, David (2004).A Political and Economic Dictionary of the Middle East.We have, by contrast, chosen to include the predominantly Arabic-speaking countries of western North Africa (the Maghreb), including Mauritania (which is a member of the Arab Maghreb Union) [...].
^Branine, Mohamed (2011).Managing Across Cultures: Concepts, Policies and Practices. p. 437.The Magrebian countries or the Arab countries of western North Africa (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) [...].
^Cite error: The named referencePacker-NYer was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).
^Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn; Lobban, Richard (Spring 2001). "The Sudan Since 1989: National Islamic Front Rule".Arab Studies Quarterly.23 (2):1–9.JSTOR41858370.
